Pneumatic remote control assembly



Dec) 2,":1969 J. COOPER 3,431,067 I PNEUMATIC REMOTE CONTROL ASSEMBLYFiled Feb. 17, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS JUL /U5 COO/ EA "Dec. 2,1969 J. COOPER 3,431,067

' r PNEUMATIC REMOTE CONTROL ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 17, 19s? 2 Sheets-Sheet2 I 44 46 54 66 i 64 E v l l V I 5 /60 75 92' I /52 2 ,56 84 66 4g 50 62g 46 55 INVENTOR.

- 52 JULIUS COOPER BY A w 'j i "/66 7A:

United States Patent 3,481,067 PNEUMATIC REMOTE CONTROL ASSEMBLY JuliusCooper, New Hyde Park, N.Y., assignor to Ideal Toy Corporation, Hollis,N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 17, 1967, Ser. No. 616,848Int. Cl. A63h 30/06, 17/14, 11/10 US. 'Cl. 461 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE It is the primary object of the present invention to providea remote control assembly for actuating a track switching mechanismwhich is a component of.the track for a miniature road-racing set. Suchroad-racing sets, including miniature racing cars and the tracks forthese cars, are presently extremely popular as playthings and as hobbyitems for both children and adults. It is desired that the pneumaticremote control assembly be such that it can be marketed at a relativelylow cost and be capable of manufacture by mass production techniquesusing readily-available component parts. The assembly should be simplein structure, easy to operate, efficient in use and able to withstandlong hours of play.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a remotecontrol assembly of the character described wherein the operatinggaseous medium is air and the pneumatic system is normally vented to theatmosphere, this being efficient and simple and enabling the assembly totransmit air pressure and return to its normal or initial conditionspeedily.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a remotecontrol assembly of the character described which is pneumaticallyoperated and is energized by the hand of the player, thereby eliminatingthe use of electricity, including alternating current or direct currentcells, and by such elimination being safer, not subject to periodreplacement and more economical in use.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a remotecontrol assembly of the character described that is so arranged andconstructed that small pin-hole leaks in the pneumatic system, which arebound to occur after many hours of rough play as by small children, havelittle effect on the continued operability of the system.

In general and in accordance with the present invention, there isprovided a pneumatic remote control assembly especially adapted tooperate a track switching mechanism. Such mechanisms are commoncomponents of road-racing sets which commonly include a track layoutdefining a racecourse and one or more miniature powered racing carsadapted to run over the racecourse. To introduce elements of variety andskill into the racing of miniature powered racing cars, the road-racingset is provided with a track having a turnolf and a track switch issituated at the turnoff enabling the player to determine the route ofhis car either straight ahead or through the turnoff and along adifferent road. The track switch usually has a projecting actuatinglever which when set in one position directs the car along one road andwhen set in another position, its actuated position, directs the caralong an alternate road.

The remote control assembly of the present invention includes twopneumatically interconnected units, a remote control switch and a remotecontrol station. The control station includes a housing having a flatbase adapted to be situated on any flat surface. A relatively large airbellows is located within the housing and by the resiliency of its wallis normally expanded. A plunger is attached to the uppermost end of thebellows and is slidably mounted in the housing so that depression of theplunger contacts the bellows. The plunger has a head external to thehousing which is to be pressed downwardly by the hand of the player. Anaperture is formed in the plunger head and functions as a vent toatmosphere for the bellows; this aperture is closed by the hand of theplayer when he applies his hand to the plunger, thereby temporarilyforming a closed-air system.

The remote control switch, the second unit of the pneumatic remotecontrol assembly, includes a housing having a base adapted to besituated on any flat surface. An air bulb is located within the housingand is pneumatically connected to the air bellows within the controlstation by an elongated flexible air conduit which runs between thehousings of the respective units. A cradle is pivotally mounted in thehousing and is adapted to engage the lever of the track switchingmechanism. The cradle is mounted to swing between two positions and inso doing swings the lever of the track switching mechanism between itstwo positions. The cradle is urged by a spring to one of its positions,an initial position, this corresponding to the normal or idle positionof the tracking switch ing mechanism. The previously mentioned bulb iscaged between a wall of the housing and the cradle and is squeezedtherebetween in the initial position of the cradle. When the bulb isexpanded by air'under pressure emanating from the control station, thebulb expands, overcoming the biasing force of the spring and moving thecradle, and thus the track switching mechanism, to its actuatedposition. Upon removal of the hand of the player from the controlstation, air evacuates from the bulb under the biasing force of thespring and the cradle returns to its initial position.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features andadvantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated byreference to the following detailed description of a presentlypreferred, but nonetheless illustrative embodiment in accordance withthe present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the pneumatic remote control assembly ofthe present invention, including the remote control station and theremote control switch, the laer being engaged to the lever of a trackswitching mechanism which is part of the track layout for a road-racingset;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the remote control switch takensubstantially along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the remote control switch takensubstantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the remote control station takensubstantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the remote control station takensubstantially along the line 55 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view taken substantially alongthe line 66 of FIG. 5.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the pneumatic remote controlassembly of the present invention is generally designated by thereference numeral 10-, and the same includes a remote control station12, a remote control switch 14 and an air conduit 16 pneumaticallyinterconnecting the station 12 and the switch 14. The assembly 10 isadapted to operate any lever and typically operates the lever of a trackswitching mechanism which is part of the track layout of a miniatureroad-racing set. A portion of such a set is shown in FIG. 1 and includesa track base 18 in which is formed an elongated continuous slot 20, thesame constituting a track for a miniature powered racing car. The slot20 guides the racing car in its path of movement, and for variety andinterest, a turnoff is formed in the track of such a road-racing set.More specifically, as a racing car is moving along the track in thedirection indicated by the arrow A, it will come upon a fork or turnoffin its track so that a person playing with the road-racing set may causethe racing car to travel along a straight path and follow the track inthe direction indicated by the arrow B or may alternately cause theracing car to turn off along the track in the direction indicated by thearrow C.

The route that the racing car will take is determined by the previouslymentioned track switching mechanism, designated by the reference numeral22. The mechanism includes a triangular member 24 having a linear base26 and opposed concave sides respectively 28, 30. The triangular member24 sits in a triangular well 32 formed in the track base 18 and ispivoted for limited rocking movement within the well about a pin 34. Anactuating lever 36 is fixed at one end 38 to the triangular member 24and has its other end 40 projecting outwardly from the track base 18through a small slot 41 in the side wall 42 of the base. (See FIG. 3.)It will be evident that when the triangular member 24 is rocked in thedirection D, the side wall 28 and the opposed wall of the well 32 form aslot path 20a guiding the miniature racing car to travel in thedirection C, while when the triangular member 24 is rocked in theopposed direction, the linear base 26 of the triangular member and theopposed wall of the well form a slot path 201) guiding the racing car totravel in the direction B. This latter position of the triangular memberis shown in dash lines in FIG. 1. Of course, similar movements of theracing car will be caused by proper manipulation of the triangularmember 24 when the racing car approaches from opposed directions.

The control station 12 of the pneumatic remote control assembly 10 isshown in FIGS. 1, 4 and and includes a hollow box-like housing 44 whichincludes a cover 46 and a base 48. The cover 46 includes a top wall 50,a front wall 52, a rear wall 54 and a pair of opposed side walls 56, 58.The base 48 has a pair of opposed lugs 60 which snap into opposedregistered slots 62 formed in the lower portions of the side walls 56,58. As can best be seen in FIG. 4, the bottom of the control station 12is fiat so that the station may be located on any flat surface.

An air bellows 64 of relatively large capacity is situ ated within thehousing 44 of the control station 12 and fills the major portion of theinterior of said housing. The bellows is generally cylindrical in shapeand ha a cylindrical side wall 66, a flat bottom wall 68 which sits onthe upper surface of the base 48 of the housing 44 and a top wall 69.The side wall 66 includes a zone 70 of accordian-old configurationwhereby the bellows can be folded or contracted by movement thereofparallel to its axis and in the downward direction E and will expandupon movement in a direction opposed to the direction E. The bellows isformed from any resilient self-supporting tough plastic known in the toyfield such that the bellows at rest holds itself in its expandedcondition, shown in FIG. 4.

A plunger 72 is also a component of the remote control station 12, is ofcylindrical configuration and includes a cylindrical side wall 74 and atop wall 76. The plunger is situated immediately above and in contactwith the bellows. When the plunger 72 is moved down wardly in thedirection F, the bellows will contract; expansion of the bellows willmove the plunger in a direction pposed o he direction F.

The plunger 72 is mounted for vertical reciprocal sliding movement inthe control station 12. To this end, a large diameter aperture 77 isformed centrally of the top wall 50 of the cover 46 and is of a diameterslightly larger than the outside diameter of the side wall 74 of theplunger. The body of the plunger passes through the aperture 77 andaccordingly the plunger can move upwardly and downwardly through theaperture. A pair of diametrically oppositely protruding tabs 79 areformed at the periphery of the top Wall 76 of the plunger and the outeredges of the tabs are spaced apart a distance greater than the diameterof the aperture 77. The top wall 76 of the plunger and the tabs 79constitute the head 81 of the plunger. The tabs 79 are located above thetop wall 50 of the cover 46 and thus prevent the plunger from passingcompletely into the interior of the housing. The tabs and the wall 69 ofthe bellow constitute stops; the plunger can move between positionswherein the upper wall 69 of the bellows contacts the interior of thetop wall 50 and wherein the tabs 79 contact the exterior surface of thetop wall. In the bellows idle position the top wall of plunger 72 and amajor portion of the body of the plunger are exposed externally to thehousing 44 and the head 81 of the plunger can be contacted by a hand ofa player. Such contact will move the plunger downwardly compressing thebellows. In the contracted position of the bellows, the head 81 of theplunger continues to be exposed externally of the housing.

Desirably, the plunger is formed as a single piece with the bellows 64and the interior of the plunger 72 and the interior of the bellows 66combine to form a large air chamber 78.

An air vent is pneumatically connected to the air chamber 78 and to thisend, an aperture is formed in the top wall 76 and is surrounded by acircular flange 82. Said air vent normally maintains the chamber 78 atatmospheric pressure.

The air conduit 16 pneumatically connects the remote control station 12to the remote control switch 14. The air conduit 16 constitutes anelongated flexible tube 85 formed from a conventional tough plastic. Onone of its ends, the air conduit has a plug 86. The plug includes ahollow sleeve 88 which fn'ctionally fits into an exit port 84 in theside wall of the bellows 66, a sleeve 90 over which the end of the tube85 is forced, and a positioning collor 92. The sleeve 90 and theoverlying end of the tube pass through a small aperture 94 in the rearwall 54 and the retaining collar 92 is captured between the interiorsurface of the rear wall 54 and a pair of upstanding walls 96 risingfrom the base 48.

The remote control switch 14 is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 and the switchincludes a housing 98 which is a hollow box-like structure and whichincludes a cover 100 and a base 102. The cover includes a fiat top wall104, a front wall 106, a rear wall 108 and a pair of opposed parallelside walls 110. The base has a pair of opposed lugs 112 which fit intoregistered slots 114 in the side walls 110, similar to the manner inwhich the lugs 60 snap into the slots 62 in the remote control station12.

The remote control switch 14 further includes an elongated lever 116 ofthe third class. The lever is driven by an air bulb 118 also locatedwithin the station 12. he lever 116 is mounted for rotative movementbetween two positions, one of these being considered an initial or anidle position, and the second of these being considered an actuated:position. To this end, a pin 120 is carried by the base 102 and passesthrough an aperture 122 in an interior end 124 of the lever 116. Theaperture 122 is of keyhole configuration and the pin 120- has anoverhanging tooth 126, this arrangement permitting assembly of the armon the pin, and thereafter the tooth 126 preventing the arm from beingslid off the pin. The other end of the lever 116 constitutes a cradle128 which engages the extending end 40 of the track switching mechanismlever;

36. The cradle includes a depressed bed 130 surrounded on three sides bya retaining wall 132. The lever end 40 rides on the bed 130 and isretained in proper position by the retaining wall 132. An opening 134 inthe front wall 106 permits movement of the cradle. A raised linear ridge136 carried by the base 102 and a raised boss 137 surrounding the baseof the pin 120 are situated beneath the path of the lever so that thelever rides on the ridge and boss and does not frictionally engage theremainder of the internal surface of the base 102.

Means biases the lever 116 and thus the cradle 128 to its initialposition. To this end, a coil spring 138 under tension has one of itsends fixed to a pillar 140 which rises from the base 102 and has itsother end engaging a hook 142 carried by the lever 116 adjacent thecradle 128. The coil spring urges the lever to rotate in a counterclockdirection as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, which would bring the triangularmember 24 to a position in which a miniature racing car proceeding inthe direction A would make a right turn in the direction C. Theorientation of the triangular member so positioned is illustrated infull lines in FIG. 1.

The mentioned air bulb 118 is substantially cylindrical in-fullyexpanded shape and is caged within the remote control switch 14 by anL-shaped wall 144 which rises from the base 102 and is contracted by apressure arm 146 extending toward it from the lever 116. As best seen inFIG. 2, the arms has a height which is a major portion of the diameterof the air bulb 118. In the initial position of the lever 116, thepressure arm 146 protrudes deeply into the cylindrical outline of theair bulb 118 and in so doing collapses the bulb to a substantial extentso that it contains a relatively small amount of air. A comparison ofthe configuratitons of the bulb 118 and the bellows 64 indicates thatthe volume of air which can be expelled by the bellows is substantiallygreater than the volume defined by the air bulb, even when the latter isfully expanded.

The conduit 16 is connected by a plug 148 to the nozzle 150 of the bulb,the construction of the plug 148 being similar to the construction ofthe plug 86 and the plug 148 also having a retaining collar 152 whichserves to hold the plug in place in the remote control switch. The bulb118, the conduit 16 and the bellows 64 and plunger 72 comprise the airsystem of the pneumatic remote control assembly 10. The vent 80 servesto open the air system to the atmosphere so that the pressure within thesystem is atmospheric when the various components are in their initialpositions.

Turning then briefly to the operation of the assembly, the same in itsinitial or idle position is illustrated in the drawings. The bellows 64is expanded due to the resiliency of its walls and the bellows holds theplunger 72 in elevated position with the head 81 exposed for operation.The coil spring 138 biases the lever 116 and thus the cradle 128 to acounterclockwise position, gaging the track switching'mechanism lever 36and bringing the lever 36 to one of the latters two positions. Thepressure arm 146 constricts the air bulb 118 to a relatively smallinternal volume.

When the player desires to operate the pneumatic control assembly inorder to operate the track switching mechanism 22, he simply pressesdownwardly on the head 81 of the plunger 72 and simultaneously coversthe vent 80 with his finger or with the palm of his hand. In so doing,he closes, that is, seals the pneumatic air system and depression of theplunger contracts the bellows causing air to be expelled from thebellows 66 and to travel along the air conduit 16 into the air bulb 118to expand the latter. Thus, the vent hole functions as a valve keepingthe air system at atmospheric pressure when the assembly is not beingoperated and keeping the air system at an elevated pressure when theassembly is operated by the players hand. Since the hand of player canexert the cradle enconsiderable force on the plunger, the bulb 118 isforced to expand overcoming the biasing force of the coil spring 138 andacting upon the pressure arm 146 to swing the lever 116 clockwise asseen in FIG. 1. In so doing, the cradle moves the track switchingmechanism lever 36 to its actuated position.

The lever 116 is retained in its actuated position until the hand of theplayer is removed from the plunger. Thereupon, the vent is clear toagain connect the air system to atmosphere so that the bulb 118 isimmediately collapsed by the action of the coil spring 138 swinging thelever 116 counterclockwise as seen in FIG. 1 so that the pressure arm146 contracts the bulb. Since the vent is opened to atmosphere, thelever returns to its initial position quite rapidly and brings with itthe track switching mechanism to its initial position also rapidly. Ifno such vent were provided, and the return movement of the lever waitedupon the expansion of the bellows 64, the return movement would beconsiderably slower. Still further, since the volume of air which thedepression of the plunger can cause to be delivered by the air bellowsto the air bulb 118 is considerably greater than the maximum volume ofthe air bulb, any small pin hole leaks which occur in the air system,which may sometimes happen after long hours of rough play by youngchildren, will not prevent the system from operating properly becausesuflicient air flows to pass through the leak and at the same time toexpand the bulb 118. Further, since air is the pneumatic medium and thisair is usually at atmospheric pressure, there is no tendency for the airsystem to leak as would be the case with a liquid system.

As an additional feature of the invention, mean-s is provided to connectthe remote control switch 14 to a section of the track base 18. Saidmeans comprises an extension 154 of the base 102 which projects in adirection toward the track base 18 and said extension carries two pairsof upstanding pins, a first set 156 and a second set 158 spaced from thefirst set. To attach the track base to the switch 14, the track base islocated with its side wall 42 between the pins of each pair of pins andwith the slot 41 located between the pairs of pins. (See FIG. 6.) Thepairs of pins frictionally grip the side wall and serve to removablyattach the extension and thus the switch 14 to the track base 18 asdesired.

In operating a road-racing set having a track switching mechanismoperated by the pneumatic remote control assembly of the presentinvention, the player will achieve a sense of realism since the controlswitch is adjacent the track and the control station is remotetherefrom, much in the same way as are the switches and controls forthese switches used in railroad systems.

Still another feature of the present invention comprises means tointerengage two or more of the control stations 12 to form a battery ofsuch stations. Each control switch of such a battery is a component of adifferent assembly 10 and operates a different track switching mechanism22. Each control station 12 has a pair of parallel co-extensive flanges160, these flanges being fixed to the lower peripheries of the frontwall 52 and the rear wall 54 of the housing 44. Each flange 160 has anaperture 162 on a common end thereof, this aperture being at a portionof the flange which is at an elevated level as at 164. (See FIG. 6.)Each flange 160 at its other end carries a pin 166 of a diameter to fitinto the aperture 162. As seen in FIGS. 1 and 6, the apertures in theflanges of one control station 12 are passed through the pins 166 on theflanges of a difierent remote control station 12', thereby to removablyinterlock the stations 12, 12. Of course any number of control stationscan be interlocked in file formation into batteries of stations if sodesired.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy component comprising a pneumatically operated remote controlassembly for enabling a player to operate a track switching mechanism ofa road-racing set, the mechanism being operated by a lever, the assemblyincluding (a) a control station having a housing including a baseadapted to be stat oned on a flat surface, an air bellows located withinthe housing, and a plunger mounted on the housing for movement betweenan initial position allowing the bellows to expand and a positioncontracting the bellows, a portion of the plunger being exposed forcontact by the hand of the player,

(b) a control switch separate from and engageable to the mechanism, theswitch having a housing including a base adapted to be stationed on aflat surface, a cradle, means on the cradle for engaging the lever ofthe track switching mechanism, the cradle being mounted for movementbetween an initial position and an actuated position, means biasing thecradle to its initial position, and an air bulb caged in contracedcondition between a wall of the housing and the cradle in its initialposition, the bulb upon expansion moving the cradle, and thus the lever,to its actuated position against the force of the biasing means, and

(c) an elongated flexible air conduit pneumatically connecting thebellows to the bulb and running between the housings, whereby when theplunger is moved by the hand of the player to contract the bellows, airfrom the bellows is transmitted along the air conduit to the bulb toexpand the same, moving the cradle to its actuated position, the cradlecarrying the lever to an actuated position to operate the trackswitching mechanism.

2. A pneumtaically operated remote control assembly as set forth inclaim 1 wherein the bellows, conduit and bulb form an air system, andvalve means retains the system at atmospheric pressure when the plungerand cradle are in their initial positions.

3. A pneumatically operated remote control assembly as set forth inclaim 2 wherein the valve means constitutes an air vent formed in theplunger and in communication with the air system, the vent beingpositioned to be closed by the players hand when his hand contacts theplunger.

4. A pneumatically operated remote control assembly as set forth inclaim 1 wherein the control switch includes means detachably connectingthe switch housing to the road-racing set adjacent the track switchingmechanism.

5. A pneumatically operated remote control assembly as set forth inclaim 2 wherein the air bellows is capable of exhausting a volume of airgreater than the capacity of the air bulb thereby to insure fullexpansion of the bulb notwithstanding small leaks in the air system.

6. A pneumatically operated remote control assembly as set forth inclaim 1 wherein the plunger and the bellows are formed in one piece andcombine to define an air cavity, the conduit being pneumaticallyconnected to the air cavity.

7. A pneumatically operated remote control assembly as set forth inclaim 1 wherein the plunger has a portion in contact with the airbellows and slidably reciprocates through an aperture in the housing,the plunger including stops determining the limits of its movement, eachof said stops being carried by the plunger, one of the stops beinginternal of the housing and the other stop being external of thehousing.

8. A pneumatically operated remote control assembly as set forth inclaim 1 wherein each control station carries means for detachablycoupling itself to other control stations whereby to form two or morecontrol stations into a battery of stations.

9. A pneumatically operated remote control assembly as set forth inclaim 8 wherein the coupling means in cludes a pair of parallelco-extensive flanges, a pair of pins carried by the flanges at one setof common ends thereof and a pair of apertures carried by the flanges atthe other set of common ends thereof, the apertures being dimensioned toreceive the pins.

10. A toy component comprising a pneumatically operated remote controlassembly for operating a road-racing set track switching mechanism witha lever, including (a) a control station having a housing, an airbellows carried by the housing, and a plunger mounted on the housing formovement to a position contracting the bellows, a portion of the plungerbeing exposed for contact by the hand of an operator,

(b) a control switch separate from and engageable to the mechanism, theswitch having a housing, a cradle mounted for movement between a firstand a second position, means on the cradle for engaging the lever, andan air bulb engaging the cradle and upon expansion moving the cradle toone of its positions, and

(c) an air conduit pneumatically connecting the bellows to the bulb,whereby when the plunger is moved by the hand of the operator tocontract the bellows, air from the bellows is transmitted along the airconduit to the bulb to expand the same, moving the cradle to said one ofits positions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1913 Miller.

4/1968 Ryan 46-202 US. Cl. X.R.

